Convertible builder&#39;s level and transit



W. F. KIEFER AND 1. H. WARREN.

CONVERTIBLE BUILDER'S LEVEL AND TRANSIT.

I APPLICATION FILED 1AN'.I4, 1922. LQQQAS'Z I P sept- 19, 1922.

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CONVERTIBLE BUILDERS LEVEL AND TRANSIT.

APPL CATION FILED JAN I4 1922- 1,429 437 Patented Sept. 19, 1922.

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ATTORNEYS WILLIAM F. KIEFER, or rniLnnnLrfiiA, AND JOHN HENRY WARREN. or JENKIN- TOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. Y i

CONVERTIBLE renews LEVEL AND TRANSIT.

Application filed January 14, 1922'. Serial N6". 529,126.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM F. KIEFER, a citizen-of the United States, reslding at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, and JOHN HENRY iVAnnnN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jenkintown, county of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Convertible Builders Level and Transit, of which the following is a specification.

Our present invention relates to a novel construction and arrangement of a convertible builders level and transit and comprehends' more particularly a novel construction forming a permanent part of the level for enabling the telescope to be supported at right angles to its normal position in trunnions or axles thus enabling the telescope to be elevated or depressed through an angle of at least 45 above and below the horizontal.

It further comprehends a novel construetion of telescope supports wherein novel means are employed for closing them and novel means are employed for effecting their rotary adjustment.

Other novel features of construction and advantage will hereinafter more clearly appear in the detailed description of the invention.

For the purpose'of illustrating our invention, we have shown in the accompanying drawing a typical embodiment thereof which is at present preferred by us, since this en1- bodiment will be found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results. It is, however, to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which our invention consists can be variouslyarranged andorgan' ized and that our invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of these instrumentalities as herein shown and described. 1

Figure 1 represents, in side elevation, a convertible builders level and transit, em bodying our invention.

Figure 2 represents, inside elevation, the construction seen in Figure 1 but showing 50 certain of the parts in a different position from that shown in said figure.

Figure 3 represents a section on line 33 of Figure 8. I

Figure 4 represents a side elevation of the 55 construction seen in Figure 3.

may n t ter Of T i any conventional type of iil eans for effecting Figure 5 represents a top planview. Figure 6 representsasection on line 66 of Figure 5. I I

Figure 7 represents a section .on line 7-7 of Figure 2. i v i F igure 8 represents a top plan view similar to Figure 5 but sl'iowing the telescope and its adjuncts at'right angles to the position seen in Figure 5. I i

Figure 9 represents a'section on line 9-9 of Figure 6.

Figure 10 represents a section onjline 10-10 of Figure 7 corresponding parts. p Referring to the drawings.

1 designates the Y Similar *ni'imerals of reference indicate a bar provided with its vertical-horizontal and lateral adjust 'me nt.,, The Y support 1 carries the Ys 2 which are provided with threaded rod 3 which passes through theY support 1. and is in engagement therewith and s'eeured in adjusted position by means'of. the. lock. nuts 4. The screw or threaded rod' iifis" cut awayo'n opposite sides of its center to forn'ithe pai allel walls 5 against which are, adapted to bear the adjusting screws 6 and 7 tively, which are in threaded engagement with the Y support: This provides. for an accurate rotary adjustmentand alignment of the Ys with re's peet to their support." The Ys as is customary are provided with an upper curved arm.8 whichis pivoted at 9 with the body port-ion of the Y and the free end. of this arm 8 engages a reess' or slot 10 in the body portion of the Y when inv closed position. The free end of the arm 8 is pro vided with the vertically disposed threaded aperture 11 adapted to'receiv'ethetlireaded end-12 of a loeking nien be1 13" which is provided with the bearingp'ortion 14s mountedto' revolve in the aperture 15 in the body portion of the Y. This aperture 15 does not extend through the Ybiit forms a shonlder against which the bearing: portion of the shoulder abuts. In order to prevent longi tudin'al movement ofthe lockin member 13 with respect to the bo'dy poi ionof the Y, the bearing portion 14 is'provideid with'a groove 16 into which extends a screw 17, see more particularly Figures 6 and 9 .v The Ys carry the" telescope which is provided iii-the usual mannerwith a level ipport which is prefrespec v 19. The telescope 18 is provided with the trunnions 20. The Y support carries as a permanent part of it a telescope supporting mechanism which supports the telescope in a novel manner when this telescope is to be moved in a vertical plane for sighting points above or below the horizontal.

21 designates supplemental telescope sup porting members which are formed of cast ing or sheet metal and are provided at their lower ends with the extensions or ears 22 which are pivotally connected with opposite sides of the Y support by means of the screws 23. Intermediate the extensions 22 the body portion of the supporting members 21 are provided with the L-shaped leg 25 wnicn with the screws 23. forms a three point sup port for each telescope supporting member 21.

Each telescope member at its outer end is recessed as at 26 having a V-shaped bottom and parallel side walls to receive and form the bearings of the trunnions 20 of the telescope. The depth of each recess 26 is such that the periphery of a trunnion 2O co-operating therewith extends above. the free end of a telescope supporting member 21.

27 designates a spring plate secured to the outer end of a telescope supporting member 21 by means of fastening devices 28.

In order to lock the telescope supporting members 21 in their raised position, we provide a manually actuated locking member 29 which is rotatably mounted on the 1' support 1 by means of a fastening device 30.- This locking member 29 is provided with the diametrically located slots 31 through which the legs 25 are adapted to pass when the members 21 are raised. When the locking member 29 is moved from the position seen in Figure 5 to that seen in Figures, it will be apparent that it will overhang the lateral flange 32 of each leg and thereby lock the members 21 in their raised position. A. spring washer 33, see Figure 8, is preferably employed beneath the head of the fastening device 30.

The operation will now be readily apparent to those skilled in this art and is as follows Referring first to Figures 7 and 10, it will be apparent that the We can be rotatably adjusted in their supports and locked in ad justed position by means of the adjusting screws 6 and 7 In order to retain the telescope 18 and lock it in position in the Ys, the telescope is placed on the body portion of the Ys and the arm 8 of each Y swung into closed position. The locking member 13 is then rotated whereupon the threaded portion of shank 12 will engage the threaded aperture 11 and cause anarm 8 to be drawn into its closed position and locked-in such position. Since the direction in which the closing movement of the arm of each Y is caused by pressure exerted in a vertical direction, there is no likelihood of the co-operating parts of the Y being drawn out of alignment.

If it is desired to mount the telescope in the trunnions in order to sight points above or below the horizontal, all that it is necessary to do is to unscrew t .e locking members 13, raise the arms 8, remove the telescope, raise the members 21 from the position seen in Figures 1 and 5 into substantially the position seen in Figures 2 and 8, insert the trunnions 20 of the telescope into the recesses 26 and then rotate the locking member 29 from the position seen in Figure 5 into that seen in Figures 2 and 8, whereupon the telescope will assume a position at right angles to its former position when supported in the Ys and be capable of move ment in the vertical plane.

Special attention is directed to the three point support of each supporting member 21 when in raised position, the three points being the fastening devices 23 and sup porting leg 25. It will be apparent from Figure 8 that the point at which the pressure is exerted by the locking member 29 on each support 21 is disposed within a triangle formed by the three supporting points 23 and 25. This three point support compensates for wear so that the telescope supporting member 21 will always assume the proper position when raised.

In accordance with our invention, we provide a novel construction of a support for this purpose which formsa permanent part of the instrument, the advantages of which are self evident.

It will be apparent that the spring plate 27 is tensioned against the trunnions of the telescope so that the telescope will be retained in any position of elevation or depression in the vertical plane desired.

It will be apparent that in accordance with our invention, the instrument can be converted for vertical sighting without the use of detachable parts, and when the telescope is supported in the We no obstructions are present to obscure a full view of the level vial. A range of inclination of at least 4.5 above or below the horizontal is obtained. The locking member 29 with the spring washer 33 which is preferably connected with it, serves as a spring tension locking device to securely and accurately hold each member 21 in its upright position. The trunnions of the telescope are preferably of small diameter and are permanently attached at or near the center of gravity of the telescope.

Attention is directed to the fact that the supporting members 21 which are pivotally connected at their lower ends with the Y support or level bar 1 but remaining fixtures of the latter, may be folded down on said parent in rigure l.

Again, when the members 2i are folded as above stated,they will not interfere with the mounting ofthe telescope'in its normal position upon the Ys when used as a level.

ber rotatable but prevented. from'longitudi- It will .now be apparent that we have.

as shown inFigure 1.

devised a novel and useful convertiblebuilders level and transit which embodies thefeatures of advantage.enumerated as de sirable in the statement of the invention,

and the above description, and while we have,-in the present instance, shown and described an embodiment thereof which will give in practice satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that this embodiment is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, 1s:

1. In a device of the character described,

the combination with the telescope, the Y s to carry it and the Y support, of telescope supporting members permanently carried by said Y support and having means to support said telescope in one position and supplemental means pivotally mounted on said Ys support and foldable thereon and adapted when raised to form the bearings of the trunnions of the telescope at a right angle to said position, and means to loclrsaid members in operative position.

'2. Ina device of the character described the combination of a telescope and Ys support, on which latter said telescope is mounted in one position ofsupplemental supporting members for the telescope pivotsilient elements adapted to correspondingly engage said trunnions.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with the telescope, the Ys to carry it and the Y support, of telescope supporting members carried by and having a three point bearing on said Y support and having means to support said telescope so that it can be elevatedor depressed in the vertical plane at least 45 above and below the horizontal, and means to lock said members in operative position.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with the Y support, of a Y having a threaded rod in engagement with said support, a. portion ofsaid' rod. being removed on opposite sides to form bearing faces and laterally adjustable members carried by said'Y su'pportlto engage said bearing facestoeifect the rotary adjustment of saidY-withrespectto'its support.

. 5. In a device of the, character described,

a Y having abodyportion, a movable arm pivotally connected to oneend of said body portion, -avertically disposed locking meme gagethe freeend of; sai1.-.armandlock it Y t on said Ys of telesco 3e su a ortino" members carried foldably by said Y support and having a three point bearing when. in raised position to support said telescope, and means exerting a locking pressure against saidtelescope supporting membersto retain them in raised position, said pressure being exerted within a triangle defined by the three points indicative of the three point bearing.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with a Y support, the Ys, the telescope adaptedto be carried bythe Ys, of telescope supporting members, each pivotally connected with said Y support at a two points and having means engaging said Y support when such members are in raised position to forma threepoint bearing,and a locking member toretain said members in raised position. I I

8. In a device of the character described, the combination with a Y support, the Ys carried by it and the telescope supported in said Ys, of a pair of telescope supporting members pivotally connected at two points to said Y support and having aleg to :engage said Y support when said members are in raised position, a locking member rotatably mounted onsaid Ysupport and adapted to overhang said legs to secure saidsupporting members in raised position, and means for mountinga telescope with respect to said members so that it can be elevated or depressed in the vertical plane at least 45 above or below the horizontal. 9. In a device of the character described, the combination with the Y support, the Ys and the telescope, of supplemental telescope supporting members pivotally mounted on said Ys and having recesses in their outer ends to receive the trunnions of the telescope, and a tension device on each member to resiliently retain a trunnion in its recess, whereby elevation or depression in the vertical plane desired.

10. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a Y support, the We and the telescope, of telescope supporting members pivotally connected at two points to said support in proximity to its center and each having a recess to receive a telescope trunnion, said members each having a leg to engage said'support when in raised position, a locking member rotatably mounted having slots through which said legs pass when being raised, and having portions to overhang said legs to secure said members in raised position, and a tension device for said locking member.

11. In an instrument of the character stated, a telescope, a bar having means thereon adapted to removably support the telescope thereon in longitudinal direction and supplemental members pivotally mounted on said bar said supplemental members having thereon means to form the bearings or" the telescope in transverse direction when used as a transit, said supplemental members being adapted to be folded down on said bar when the telescope is to be used as a level.

Witnesses:

L. M. COLDREN, ELMA CooKE. 

